Force and Fury

The Hourglass Order

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At first, Kaureerah had tried to remember the names. She had tried to connect with the people, but there were too many, there was not enough time to get to know them, and - to her great embarrassment - she could not pronounce most of them anyhow. It was all government pageantry, and she was ashamed to admit that she had checked out before long.

She'd noticed something, though, as she'd stood there waiting, and it had been cast into stark relief when Wu Long had used magic to leap atop his horse before departing: Nobody was using magic, or at least very few. It had taken some time to adjust as she'd first come to human lands - they seemed to divide class by magic use and there was just so much less among them than there was among eeaiko - but this was unusual, even by human standards. And now we have a second mystery to solve...

As Blossom and Kai led them through the streets of the ReTanese capital, Kaureerah found herself unable to maintain any sort of paranoia level and she soon succumbed to the sights and sounds of an idyllic fall evening in this strange land. She was, to be certain, an object of immense curiosity, but less of one than she'd imagined, in some ways. Many of the people living here had seen 'sea people' (Hǎi rén) before, but had never seen an Easterner. Guess who's not the only freak in the sideshow, she thought amusedly to herself. Eventually, she began to strum at her guitar when a melody took her and it was all so idyllic until...

They stopped. Then, Kai was issuing orders to his soldiers and they were rushing off in the direction of where Kaureerah was sure she'd detected some chemical and binding magic. She'd been scanning passively, partly to help her solve her earlier mystery and partly for information. There was kinetic now, as well. Kinetic because they're running. Whatever it was, it was soon out of her sensing range, and she was tempted to put up an illusion and follow. Instead, Kaureerah searched her surroundings for landmarks, noted what she could, and began forming a plan...

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The Hourglass Order

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The forests of West Kerremand were little different from those of his home region, Manfred decided. Walking along, he listened to the familiar calls of the echobirds, and the rustle of the great salamanders as they woke from their Hundrian torpor. He took Dory's hand out of habit a couple of times and made conversation. In fact, he almost let himself relax as people examined the pitcher plants, disturbed the animals, gabbed relentlessly and, most amusing of all, touched the mushrooms. Manfred shot a little side-eyed smirk Dory's way. You never touched the mushrooms around here, unless they were Perrench Food. Of course, it wasn't as if anything too severe would result, and most of those foolhardy enough to do it were yasoi... not of much use anyhow.

Things continued in this manner as the sun started to inch towards the tops of the trees, growing fat, lazy, and golden as it sunk. A different group of animals began to make itself heard now, and he recognized the chittering cries of Bat Dragons and the deep croaking calls of Coal Toads among them. Then came the distorted screech of... something, and an involuntary shiver ran down the back of Manfred's neck. Glances were exchanged within the group of nine and he counseled himself that it was just the echobirds. What had they picked up on, though!? That's what was worrisome. Nervous chuckles issued from a couple of the others. "Well," Manfred remarked, "I guess that's a good reminder of why we're here, no?" Casually, he swung his rifle from his shoulder and continued on with it in his hands, just in case...

The Hourglass Order

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& Esmii'nesta'tawaar

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The men and women were given separate rooms, of course, not that Sven expected to spend very much time in his. He’d been to Hogh Munkhelad before, but never to Hoch Dorumvir! It was all of a minute before he’d pestered Esmii into coming with him to explore.

After Sven 'asked' Esmii if she wanted to do some exploring with him, she happily agreed to his offer, since she wanted to spend some time with him too. Upon meeting up with him, she gave him a little kiss on his cheek, having to stand on her tiptoes for it. "So where do you want to go?" She smiled, taking hold of his arm.

“Well…” Sven trailed off. There were so many options, but he had one, in particular, in mind. “Maybe we could go shee shome of the animalsh? If they don’t have a menagerie, maybe the shtablesh?”

Esmii smiled at Sven’s suggestion. "That sounds like fun. As long as we are together, I dont mind where we go." She held onto his hand, "Hopefully the others will have some luck in their searches as well."

Sven did not waste anymore time, and soon the couple were headed towards the stables, taking in the city’s early evening sights along the way. The tall Eskandish boy - even taller now after another year of growth - had to duck more than once and still managed to bump into a hanging sign and momentarily daze himself. Then, they were there…

Left Behind: Mulberry Street

@Kuro Yup. He's much more the latter. I did want to give him one moment of awesome at some point, just to not make his narrative so straightforward, but it's mostly meant to be a harsh dose of reality, gradually and crushingly delivered until he finds a way to rebuild himself. He's enthusiastic enough in the early going that he'll see, hear, and think no evil until things really catch up to him. Once they do... that's where the juicy part begins.

Left Behind: Mulberry Street

@Kuro In terms of my bandwidth, I intend to manage it by playing my characters in 'arcs', so to speak. Out of the six, I'll probably focus on two at a time, with the others being mostly background. As for Jason, I can certainly understand how he looks... risky. The whole idea was to take a character who absolutely feels like a trope and examine him more deeply: what does this sort of cringelord actually look like in action and what does he actually do once the real apocalypse comes? How much of his prior 'experience' and 'preparation' is actually valid? I betcha the little halfwit is just Jonesing to use his sword collection and all his parkour gear. How quickly does reality destroy the fantasy, or does it? Does he crack? Are there copious amounts of copium? To some extent, Jason was intended as a lampoon of a certain species of metagamey character, but I want to play him with some heart and authenticity as well. I'd definitely hoped to give him one or two crowning moments of awesome amid the trauma and endless humiliation conga and maybe insert some levity while I was at it, but I'd conceived of him primarily as counterprogramming. However, if multiple people feel that he's metagamey and it's a potential cause of unease within the group that you're building, even as deeply excited as I am about this RPG, I'm alright with bowing out as well. I'm easy!

The Hourglass Order

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B E N E D E T T O

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Benedetto was spat out of the portal with velocity, and he hit the ground, rolled, and sprung nimbly to his feet, taking a whiff of that dusty desert air. This fucking place. His face immediately screwed itself up in a scowl and he spat, scanning his surroundings, before his eyes seized on... discount Jocasta and Jocasta's manwife. Where was the bitch herself? He did a second sweep and couldn't pick up her distinctive magical stench anywhere. Not in range.

Then, Tku landed with all the grace of an ocean sunfish trying to fly and, after a bit of self-narrative, launched straight into a pair of questions, the answers to each of which were obviously 'yes'. The Revidian let out a snort, crossed his arms, and sat on a rock. He could take it or leave it. The ruins were right here. They could ditch the others, leave them to fight a sand wyrm, and go take the glory and riches for themselves. Benny certainly didn't need Jocasta's help, but... it might be fun to punch a sand wyrm, and he knew that slimy Inipori who'd sent them - the one who'd just disappeared Silas - didn't like her and probably wanted to see her dead. Benny didn't really want to give that scumbag what he wanted...

He didn't wait for the tethered to respond to Tku. "How 'bout the others? They chopped liver or something?" He shook his head, standing and starting to search for a less familiar type of energy. "If they're not here, they're fighting it, but I got a way we can get there, I guess." He tilted his head to one side and grinned.

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The Hourglass Order

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♫

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All who have been to Inner Torragon know it well: the place may pretend to be Avincian, but it is not. From the buildings to the language, to the people, its soul is that of old Zaqhoria and, when the sun rises over the desert, it knows no mercy. After promising to discuss matters at length with Ayla later on, Amanda led them down to the stables. It was still early morning, the rooftops of San Agustin silhouettes bathed in dawn's harsh light. The handful of people about inclined their heads respectfully towards her and her guests as they passed. "Madre," murmured more than one. Coasting smoothly down the smooth old stones, she greeted them in kind but did not stop. Jocasta and Isabella followed in her wake, all three pairs of arms moving in almost perfect synchronization. Then, they turned off of the main path and were there. There were two stablehands about, feeding and preparing the animals. They bowed. "Madre."

"Luisito." Amanda returned his gesture. "Mauro."

She eased herself onto the hay-covered floor, rolling up to one of the horses and and patting the side of its head. "As I explained upstairs, we are a bit short on horses just now," she advised, twisting to face the others as she adjusted one of the animals' bridles. "But I suppose you have other ways of getting where you're going now. Am I wrong?"

Glancing Zarina's way, Jocasta turned back to face the woman who had been the closest thing to a mother she had ever known. "You are not," she admitted. "I may save us a day's venturing out into the desert by means of magic."

Finished with the horse, Amanda gave it a final pat. She smiled, businesslike. "Just as well," she admitted with a shrug. "We did not have enough for you anyhow." With that, she rolled over to the horse's saddle and, from a long pouch, procured a rolled-up map. "Over my shoulders. Come." She unrolled it and held it across her lap as a few of them leaned in. "He left two days ago, for the ruins of Zarfan, down La Boca." Amanda pointed it out on the map and shook her head. "He's out of our sensing range, but he should be well set up there by now." Her eyes flicked between the members of the group. "If you can teleport, then you can get there and relieve our rangers. We need them for defense."

"And I'll send them back?" Jocasta inquired, though it was more statement than question.

Amanda nodded. "I don't imagine it should take long," she decided. "So I'll only keep one of you behind." She smiled softly and some colour rose in her cheeks. "You wouldn't begrudge a mother some time spent with her child, would you?"

Marci started. "I um... I don't wanna be deadweight I can -

"Stop acting tough," chirped Isabella, "and go see your mom while you still can. Besides, you'll be guarding San Agustin, right?" Was she suppressing an ironic smirk or was she not?

"You're mine, little calabaza."

"Seriously!? Are you trying to make me die of embarrassment, mom?

Amanda grinned. "Never, precious!"

"You're making me wanna fight a sand wyrm."

In short, she stayed.

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It was early in the morning when a portal glowed bright and rippling in the courtyard of the refuge. Amanda sat in silhouette, with Marceline at her side, hair whipping like black snakes in the wind coming off of it. They waved and then, with a little salute from the last of the five, Ayla, Zarina, Yalen, Isabella, and Jocasta were through.

It was always as if she had blinked, so sudden was the change in reality. Reddish-beige cliffs rose to either side of Jocasta and she was on the hard, gravelly dirt beside a small watering hole. In the near distance rose the weathered ruins of Cervan - or Zarfan, to its original inhabitants - carved partially into the cliffside. She could see anyone here, so she reached out with her magic senses for Escarra and his rangers, only to find...

Nothing.

They weren't there and, in fact, neither was anyone. A pinch of worry invading her insides, Jocasta twisted to look up at Yalen and over at Isabella. "You guys drawing a blank too?" she prodded, and their answers were affirmative. It was time to reach further, and so she spread her senses out, sweeping the region at ranges only her fellow tethered could come close to reaching. There were the usual energies: arcane from the sun, kinetic from the wind and the shifting sands, and the agglomerations of both combined with chemical that denoted living things. Yet, as she searched further still, an invisible mass settled itself atop her stomach and she felt her pulse quicken.

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♫

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She found a group seven people about three kilometers to the northwest, close to where they'd found the aberration a year ago. Only, they seemed to be on top of some kind of rock promontory, or so the kinetic energy of the wind lashing against it told her. However, they were not alone. Jocasta's gut wrenched itself further and her hands tightened around her wheels. "It's a sand wyrm," she rasped, voice barely above a whisper. She twisted to take in the others. It was... at least... "A fucking alpha." damned near three hundred feet in length. It was circling them. This didn't make sense. Sand Wyrms were supposed to be rare, and they rarely went after something so insignificant as a human unless it was opportune. In her entire life up until last year, she had seen precisely one: breaching the sand about half a mile distant, from the refuge walls. That was the day that monsters had become real to a twelve-year-old Jocasta. But she was a monster too, she remembered.

"It has them trapped on some kind of rocky outcropping, two miles north-northwest!" she shouted, already drinking a massive amount of energy in from her surroundings. The winds went still, the sky darkened, and the air grew colder. If it was clear that they were trapped and could not harm it, the Wyrm would emerge from the sand and pursue them overland. She had no idea how long it would be until that happened: it could yet be hours; they could be mere moments from death. "We need to go right now!" she screamed. "Right now!" A portal tore apart the air before them. Dimly, she could feel the leviathan in the distance as it broke the sand and belched white-hot fire. One of the little human energy signatures, too slow to react, was consumed. "Wait! Yalen and Isabella: keep your range!" she commanded, "I'm only going there to port them out." She suited words to action, barrelling through.

She emerged right into the eye of the storm: a maelstrom of 2700°F fire.

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The portal swirled and warped and then, as if they'd just been thrust from a popped bubble, five young men emerged into the burgeoning late morning heat of Torragon's Dune Sea. They were Evander, Desmond, Fiske, Benedetto, and Tku. Not all of them stuck the landing but, when they looked up, there was a man and a woman waiting for them, looking more than a little bit anxious. Their eyes, seeming unfocused at first, quickly snapped to the group. They were Yalen and Isabella and they didn't waste any time upon recognizing who the five. "It's a Sand Wyrm."

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Action Opportunities

Welcome to Primitive, Chapter Two: Into the Fire! Already, mystery and danger threaten to kill not only the party's as-yet unmet allies, but the party itself. Why is the sand wyrm attacking Escarra and his rangers? Why are they two miles to the northeast in the first place? Why have the five boys been sent through and what can they do to help? Below are some action opportunities.

1) The new arrivals can and should talk to Isabella and Yalen. Finding their way to the fight might be a good idea.
2) Jocasta, Zarina, and Ayla will need to defend a massive jet of white-hot fire from the Sand Wyrm. It's rolled a 46! This is an alpha and is every bit as strong as the monster that you faced at the end of Deserted, even without being tainted by an aberration.
3) They should try to make up a quick plan on the spot. There is a lot of pressure and little time, so nothing too detailed! They can fight it or try to distract it while Jojo rescues the stranded rangers, or try to get to the bottom of this first mystery right there on the spot!
4) Feel free to play out your first moves. I'd recommend discussing them on discord first, however.
5) Good luck, and happy posting!

The Hourglass Order

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Penny normally would not have been the sort to ask a question of a clearly hostile host, but she could tell that everyone had wanted to ask and none had the courage to do so. What do I care if Miss 'Stay Away From Muh Home' doesn't like me? Not like I'll ever see her again. Truth be told, it irked Penny. It shouldn't have, but it did, and the bearded lady had said just enough to make her uneasy about the mission because she knew that there was a lot more being left unsaid. If you're going to throw us into mortal danger, the least you can do is tell us what's really going on. It didn't sit right, on top of what the Arch-Zeno had told her: it really didn't, and the eighteen-year-old found herself wondering why she'd even agreed to this whole thing. This is not something a future ruler of Perrence does. You're not a tool, Nel. Fuck! It was her need to do something 'useful', she knew: a thirst for some sort of ill-defined 'adventure' after seventeen years of being confined to the palace grounds. Rash decisions from a stupid girl with insecurities. She had half a mind to kick the partially open door, but restraint was a good thing to practice, and she didn't.

Really, she wanted to vent, or at least express her worries, but she had nobody here except Yuliya and Yvain who she really knew or trusted, and... they were both dubious for different reasons. Esmii had tried to be nice and Penny had thanked her, but she'd already learned that the yasoi was like that with everyone. 'Helpful' was her default setting, and I don't know you well enough to confide, anyhow. Besides, she'd been giving that big Eskandish boy goo-goo eyes the entire time. They were an item and... Ugh. Maybe that's why Penny had found herself falling into a 'mood': Jammy wasn't here and she already missed him and she worried. He was in West Kerremand, Eshi-damned cesspool that it was, and they couldn't look out for each other. A metaphorical vise tightened around her stomach. If anything happens...

She shook her head and she... walked. She had the day here, in this place she'd never visited before, she had a satchel, and she had some money to spend. If the one-legged woman was an object of curiosity here, it was just as much because she was a human as anything else. The familiar ambient sounds of a city echoed back towards her in an unfamiliar way. It was weirdly claustrophobic: no sky above, save the ever-lingering haze towards the top of the vast cavern, and the all-encroaching dimness. Even with the gas torches, the mirrors, and the skylights carved into the stone, it was like moving about in the later moments of dusk. Her eyes adjusted well enough, though. They were yasoi eyes and she was the only one in her family who had managed to inherit them from an ancestor some four generations back. It was enough of a sensory smorgasbord for her worries to start fading. Her crutches clicked and her foot thumped and she lost herself in the familiar ritual of just moving: moving nowhere in particular.

First, she picked up some traveling clothes: just as anyone might expect of a foreign girl in a strange place, but then Penny decided to go for something else. She worked her way to where the firearm vendors were and put down ten magi on an imbued pistol. Knowing what she knew, she moved to where they sold explosives. "Uz chlud" she assured the confused seller, having looked the words up in her little book of translations beforehand. "U... ligha...ich... muhl." She mimicked an explosion, even providing sound effects. The flinty-eyed Hegelan on the other side regarded her intently for a moment. Then, his facade broke. He reared back and laughed. Penny blushed and laughed nervously herself. "Iiiid... lugh? U dolris...tiss muhl... she flipped furiously through the little guidebook. "Vadu!"

There was another pause as the laughter died down. The small man on the other side smiled thoughtfully. He let out a sigh, held out his hand expectantly, and Penny promptly placed the two magi in his palm. He pocketed them and then moved about his stall, procuring and packaging just what she'd asked for. He handed her three little bundles and she slipped them into her satchel with a small bow of gratitude and an overpracticed "Tim Unkh!" Then, she was off, so pleased with herself that she was practically skipping. Just wait 'til I tell you all about it, Jammy! She hoped that he was having as much fun as she was but, first, it was time to put in an appearance with Yuliya and go shopping!

Translations

1) For mining
2) I buy five big.
3) Sooo... yes? I have three big money.
4) Thank you!

Left Behind: Mulberry Street

<Snipped quote by Force and Fury>

I don't have a strict preference myself but I do like to keep things uniform. Since everyone else seems to be going for IRL FCs, I'd suggest to do the same for your sheet if possible.

@Kuro

Will do. Just gimme a little time for that. We got a start in mind?

Left Behind: Mulberry Street

I know I've hopped in late, @Kuro, but if I've got anything wrong - do you prefer photos over art? - feel free to correct me